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Announcements of God's grace

The Himalayas.

I went to Nepal and India, in part, to experience displacement. And there certainly was a lot of geographic and physical displacement - 10 time zones distant, foreign languages, unfamiliar food, heart stopping traffic (I will never complain about the Pulaski Skyway again), a totally different religious landscape; and, in the case of Nepal, the Himalayas - whose angular grandeur was both inviting and forbidding at the same time.

And there was no end of spiritual displacement, which writer Henri Nouwen described as placing oneself in a new context to discover where God is also working. I experienced God's presence in the many Tibetan Buddhist monasteries we visited. I saw the presence of God at the Ganges River in which people immersed themselves in ancient rites of purification. And in the cremation rituals. And at the Hindu celebration at sunset when thanks was chanted for the gift of the day, and hope for the one to come. When I met with leaders of the national Dalit civil rights community, whose work it is to restore the rights and dignity of those who have, for centuries, been designated as outcastes - I felt God's passion for justice.

Rites of purification at the Ganges River
Rites of purification at the Ganges River.

While in Delhi, my friend (a retired priest) and I stayed at the Delhi Brotherhood Society, the last remaining Anglican monastic community in India. Founded in 1877 by Anglican missionaries from Cambridge, England, it has a long history of being grounded in prayer and deeply engaged in the community. There was a sense of familiarity, even respite, in living in a community of five Anglican Indian monks. We prayed the daily offices together, and while we welcomed the rhythms and cadence of an English prayer book, it was a bit of a challenge to be fully awake and aware in the 110 degree Delhi heat.

We were led around to their various ministries, which members of the Brotherhood created out of their response to human need. A college, a couple of schools, a phone hot line for abused children, a night shelter for homeless and/or orphaned kids (up to a million in Delhi alone, although it is impossible to make an official count) and churches in two different leper colonies.

Compelling, inspiring ministries. It was very easy - and transforming, to see God working in every one of them. And the need, and the chaos - and the poverty, was at times overwhelming. God was - and is, in the midst of it all.

On our last morning we were taken to a small leper colony on the West side of the city. It was small, perhaps twenty families. It was not visibly isolated from the rest of the poor neighborhood that surrounded it. But it was jammed up next to a factory, which spewed out effluent in the air and onto the street that would naturally keep people away.

Two leaders of the Delhi leper colony.
Two leaders of the Delhi leper colony.

The brother who brought us invited the community to gather in the small chapel which the Brotherhood had built several decades ago. It was used as a storage facility, a community gathering place - and a worship space. Some members of the community were out begging, which we were told was about the only economic enterprise people felt was available to them. The rest joined us in the chapel. Through an interpreter we extended greetings. And several people expressed that they were so happy to see us. We talked about life and God and faith. And they repeated that they were so happy to see us.

Meeting with the leper colony in the chapel.
Meeting with the leper colony in the chapel.

And in that welcome, which went beyond expected felicitations,there was a level of hospitality on their part that was transforming to me. This may have been the poorest community I have ever visited. There was heartache and disappointment and oppression and disease, to be sure. You couldn't miss it. But they had a space for welcome and hospitality that was real and gracious and God given. In the midst of mind numbing scarcity there was the unmistakable presence of abundance. Their gracious hospitality exposed the distractions and agendas that tend to govern my life, and which crowd out the possibility for such grace-filled welcome.

It was more than a sign of God's grace. It was a veritable announcement.

Comments

Yes, true kerygma here, Mark. I do not doubt that you were deeply marked by this experience - it is palpable in your description. So glad I know you, and share some history that helps know you with some perspective. BTW, we have an official date for Seth's release, 9/17, day after his birthday. We will travel to Lexington, KY to pick him up, take him back to Detroit and a half-way house, all preliminary to his eventual move back with us. Hallelujah!

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